Following the news of Bali Aquarich’s latest stellar accomplishment on successfully raising Holacanthus passer, here’s something more subdued but nonetheless interesting. Mr. Su has just revealed a “new” strain of Amphiprion sandaracinos that he’s been working on, and gave us the go ahead in coining a new name for it. To make this a little more interactive and fun, we left it on our Facebook page to let the readers have a go at naming it and we proceeded to choose the most fitting example. Here’s a first look at Bali Aquarich’s new Xcalibur clownfish, capitalised sans “E” for effect.

The “new” Xcalibur clowns.

Personally, I am not a fan of designer clownfish. They do nothing for me, and I’d take a classical looking “nemo” any day over any of the designers. That being said, this new strain of A. sandaracinos is truly beautiful in the subtlest of ways, and we’re not even sure if “designer” even applies to this nearly wild type looking fish.

These clowns are not “new” in the strictest sense, and have been sitting around in Mr. Su’s farm facility for quite awhile now. These are F2 generations and the strain is best described as having a horizontal branching of the dorsal stripe just above the eyes, near the nape region. The pattern is very simple and reminiscent of a sword, down to the clown’s own dorsal stripe serving as the fuller (we actually had to google sword terminology to find out what that middle groove is called).

Mr. Su didn’t think this was special or if had already been made available in the market, but I thought it looks phenomenal. Designer clowns at the end of the day all boils down to personal preference and is a very subjective matter. That being said, if you really think these Xcalibur clowns deserve a spot at the round table in your aquarium, do keep a look out for these as an offering from Bali Aquarich.